gylon epix™
- June 02, 2023
GYLON EPIX™
GYLON EPIX™ is a newly developed family of PTFE gaskets. It is manufactured using a patented, profiled surface based on Garlock's proven Fawn, Off-White, and Blue GYLON® to create highly conformable materials for optimum sealing performance.
GYLON EPIX™ provides superior functional performance by combining the traditional attributes of GYLON® with an innovative surface design. It offers a broader range of applications than traditional PTFE gaskets that are used in worn and pitted flanges. In addition, this evolutionary material
- December 13, 2019
Gylon Epix's patterned material provides enhanced compressibility for better sealing
Gaskets are ubiquitous components in a processing plant. Every flange, equipment joint and connection point will have some form of gasket to prevent fluids from compromising (i.e., leaking from) a process system. However, effective sealing can pose challenges. A new form of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) gasket, Gylon Epix, already has successfully addressed a number of persistent problems at plants.
The gasket, which is available in 3⁄32-in.-thick, 60-in. × 60-in. sheets, features a raised hexagonal pattern (Figure 1). It exhibits
- September 10, 2019
The search for the ideal Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) gasket has been elusive. Competing applications and workplace variables have led to the creation of myriad solutions, yet none that has proven fully adaptable and appropriate for universal adoption.
Garlock Sealing Technologies considered this to be a critical yet entirely solvable shortcoming. And it is against this backdrop that in 2016, they set out to compile a comprehensive list of attributes for the ideal PTFE gasket — a wish list, as it were — in order to build a better gasket.
Working with a third-party survey development company, Garlock developed an exhaustive questionnaire that probed every aspect and functionality of PTFE gaskets, testing and adjusting the questions until they had a workable, finalized version.
Using this final questionnaire, Garlock conducted extensive interviews at 15 major chemical processor companies, speaking with 20 engineers responsible for process operations, projects, maintenance and reliability. The goal was simple: to discover the ideal characteristics and their relative importance that engineers sought in a PTFE gasket.
After several months of data collection, Garlock analyzed the feedback and noted the most popular responses:
- 28% of respondents said that they struggled with how different gaskets required different compressive loads and how to ensure that those gaskets had been installed properly
- 21% expressed frustration with the creep properties of PTFE gaskets
- 21% desired a gasket that seals with less compressive load
- 14% expressed frustration at the installation inconsistencies of their fitters
- 14% expressed frustration with leaking, especially after a successful installation and start-up
From those answers, Garlock drew the following conclusions, representing the most desirable and essential PTFE gasket characteristics:
- Seal: Seals easily
- Installation and assembly: Forgiving of poor installation or assembly practices
- Forgiving: Forgiving of poor flange conditions
- Retention: Maintains a seal after installation
- Flexible: Can be used in a broad range of services to avoid user confusion and reduce inventory
Introducing: GYLON EPIX
Garlock used this feedback in developing a next generation PTFE gasket — GYLON EPIX. Featuring a hexagonal surface profile, GYLON EPIX offers superior compressibility and sealing for use in chemical processing environments. Its enhanced surface profile performs as well or better than existing 1/16″ or 1/8″ gaskets, allowing end-users and distributors to consolidate inventory, lower the risk of using incorrect gasket thicknesses and reduce stocking costs.
GYLON EPIX checks off the most desirable gasket attributes:
- Installation and assembly: Even distribution of the bolt load over the contacted area of the gasket during the assembly process
- Retention: Retention of the bolt load administered at assembly
- Seal: Efficient translation of bolt load to sealing performance
- Forgiving: The ability to perform in imperfect flanges and installation conditions
GYLON EPIX with its raised, hexagonal profile allows it to perform the job of both traditional 1/16” and 1/8” gaskets. It accomplishes this by combining the bolt retention of the former with the forgiveness for bad flange conditions of the latter, a truly innovative feature for PTFE sheet gasketing.
- August 28, 2018
We recently added the GYLON EPIX™ - The Next Generation in PTFE Gasketing webinar to our website. The webinar discusses Garlock's revolutionary new gasketing material, with its patented hexagonal surface, which concentrates gasket stress, providing improved compressibility and bolt load retention, improving sealability and blowout resistance.
Below is the third and final section of the webinar, which provides application guidance for GYLON EPIX™, calling out where it makes most sense to utilize this revolutionary new material.
https://youtu.be/U-koqMPko0w
- August 07, 2018
We recently added the GYLON EPIX™ - The Next Generation in PTFE Gasketing webinar to our website. The webinar discusses Garlock's revolutionary new gasketing material, with its patented hexagonal surface, which concentrates gasket stress, providing improved compressibility and bolt load retention, improving sealability and blowout resistance.
Below is the second section of the webinar, which discusses the features and benefits of the GYLON EPIX™ material, and what differentiates it from any other gasketing material on the market today.
https://youtu.be/WzooJzGNa8w
- July 17, 2018
We recently added the GYLON EPIX™ - The Next Generation in PTFE Gasketing webinar to our website. The webinar discusses Garlock's revolutionary new gasketing material. With its patented hexagonal surface, GYLON EPIX™ concentrates gasket stress, providing improved compressibility and bolt load retention, improving sealability and blowout resistance.
Below is the first section of the webinar, diving into what drove Garlock to create this new material, and how GYLON EPIX™ provides the benefits of both a 1/16" and 1/18" thick gasket in one, universal, 3/32" thickness.
https://youtu.be/PS_uc5BUDwc
- June 26, 2018
Gallagher recently added the GYLON EPIX™ Webinar to its website. This video is a recorded webinar discussing GYLON EPIX™ - The Next Generation in PTFE Gasketing.
This material is a newly developed family of PTFE gaskets. It is manufactured using a patented, profiled surface based on our proven Fawn (Style 3500), Off-White (Style 3510), and Blue (Style 3504) GYLON® to create highly conformable materials for optimum sealing performance.
GYLON EPIX™ will provide superior functional performance by combining the traditional attributes of GYLON® with an innovative surface design. It offers a broader range of applications than traditional PTFE gaskets that are used in worn and pitted flanges. In addition, GYLON EPIX™ delivers the tight sealing and load retention properties of 1/16” (1.6mm) and the conformability of 1/8” (3.2mm).
- May 22, 2018
GYLON EPIX™ is a family of gaskets that effectively seals a broader range of applications and is more forgiving during the installation process. It allows the end user to save valuable turn-around time, reduce re-work, and lower costs, helping them to finish ahead of schedule and under budget.
GYLON EPIX™ features a hexagonal surface profile that provides the torque retention and blowout resistance of a thin gasket and the conformability of a thicker gasket. GYLON EPIX™ Style 3504 EPX is a high performance, aluminosilicate microsphere filled PTFE sheet material designed for use in moderate concentrations of acids, and caustics, as well as hydrocarbons, refrigerants, and more.
INDUSTRY
Chemical
CUSTOMER
Phosphate Processor
- May 08, 2018
GYLON EPIX™ is a newly developed family of PTFE gaskets. It is manufactured using a patented, profiled surface based on our proven Fawn, Off-White, and Blue GYLON® to create highly conformable materials for optimum sealing performance.
THE EPIX™ DIFFERENCE
GYLON EPIX™ and a traditional full face gasket were installed in a 3”-150# flat face flange at 120 ft.lbs. with pressure sensitive film. The film revealed that the traditional material saw heavier loading-near and around the bolts, and lighter loading at the points furthest from the bolts. The GYLON EPIX™ was able to distribute the load more evenly and prevent the low loading phenomenon.
The pressure sensitive film was then analyzed with special software that translate the various shades of red into a full color spectrum that provides a better visualization of the stresses that were developed on each of the gaskets. Again, while the traditional gasket saw areas of lower stress (green and blue areas), the hexagonal pattern in the GYLON EPIX™ concentrated and distributed the stress more evenly across the entire gasket.
- March 06, 2018
GYLON EPIX™ is a family of gaskets that effectively seals a broader range of applications and is more forgiving during the installation process. It allows the end user to save valuable turn-around time, reduce re-work, and lower costs, helping them to finish ahead of schedule and under budget.
GYLON EPIX™ features a hexagonal surface profile that provides the torque retention and blowout resistance of a thin gasket and the conformability of a thicker gasket. GYLON EPIX™ Style 3504 EPX is a high performance, aluminosilicate microsphere filled PTFE sheet material designed for use in moderate concentrations of acids, and caustics, as well as